Getting back to school means one thing for sure– getting new syllabusesand hearing those “my goals and methods” speeches from each of your newprofessors.

Oftentimes teachers try to impress upon you how they aren’t fond ofgrade-grubbers who don’t really care about learning and are just tryingto get a good grade and move on. They want you to believe that it is thelove of learning and the spark of interest which they value in theirstudents.

I used to fall for this speech; I used to believe that when teachers saidthat they didn’t want mindless simpering and endless pandering to theirown sometimes painful ideas they actually meant it.

I was wrong.

Don’t worry about me, I’ve since realized my own naiveté. But I’m worriedabout others who may have taken their disillusionment too far.

Here I think I should pause to remind readers that I am not talkingabout every professor. There are a lot of excellent professors who docare about what students think, who would rather hear what you think thanhear what they think repeated back to them. Some of them really do meanto encourage active student participation and would rather discuss adifference of opinion than fail someone for having one.

If you have a good professor, congratulations. Try to learn all you can.If you have a bad one, you have one of two choices. You can play ball anddo whatever it takes to get a good grade with no reference to your ownsensibilities, or you can stand firm, refuse to compromise and suffer theconsequences, content in the knowledge that you serve a higher moralpurpose.

I know and hate that there is the incredibly frustrating day when yourealize that your honest and thought-out comments and work are gettingworse grades than the inane fawning of hopeless bootlickers. There isnothing I can do to soften the rage or the injustice, except offer mycondolences. However, since I am otherwise powerless, I have made it mymission to ensure that this revelation doesn’t permanently damage anyonewho is worth more.

But Kate, you may well be wondering, why ever wouldn’t you just swallowyour righteous anger and write the sort of mindless drivel sure toimpress any self-centered demagogue? Surely, in the end, having thegrades to be able to explore any future endeavors you could wish to isyour ultimate goal?

I have thought a lot about this very question and I would have to say myown hopelessly romantic answer is a resigned no. I have accepted that theundeniable consequence of my stubbornness is that I may get worse gradesthan I could if I sold my soul and devoted myself wholly to pleasingprofessors without regard to the formation of my own mind.

The way I see it, we have our entire lives to realize the world is unfair.We have a long time left to feel the pressure of the almighty paycheckand to be pressured to suck up to or tread on (depending on what the casemay be) as many people as possible to reach it. But the way I see it, weare too young to be fully disillusioned. I know some students considerthemselves quite worldly and knowledgeable, but I for one embrace thefact that I have thus far escaped the torturous look and ambiguous moralsof those too well acquainted with the world.

But Kate, you inquire again, it’s just one little grade in one littlecourse, surely writing a few insipid papers won’t morally bankrupt me andlead my life down a spiraling path of misery?

No, I admit it won’t, but every little bit helps. Every littledesensitization to right and wrong will make it easier to do what we knowwe ought not to the next time. I would like it if we didn’t have to startthinking about these things so early. I wish we could all go our wholeacademic careers without running into a bad professor, but unfortunatelyI fear that I can’t simply wish good things into existence.

I don’t mean to push anyone to make the same decision that I have,but I do encourage you to think about it. If good grades are yournumber-one concern then by all means do what you need to get them.If, however, you feel you want more than empty grades and anindistinguishable feeling of unhappiness, I encourage you tofollow me.

Follow Kate at [email protected]